The Butterfly Effect
by Done101
Summary: Adrien met Marinette when he was just seven years old, and was determined to become her friend; too bad that was easier said than done.
1. Chapter 1

At the age of seven Adrien Agreste met Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the saddest girl he had ever laid eyes on. She sat between his mother and father at the family dining room table, and once his parents noticed him they bid him closer to sit down so that they may talk to him about the girl between them.

Marinette was a tiny girl; her skin was so pale and thin it looked delicate, her black hair was pulled back into two pigtails, and her eyes were the prettiest things he had ever seen. They reminded him of the delicate, blue flowers that his mother once showed him but even at a young age he realized that there was something about them that made him feel both uncomfortable and sad.

Adrien absently heard his parents explaining to him that Marinette's parents couldn't take care of her anymore because they had gone somewhere that she couldn't follow, and that they would be taking Marinette in due to the friendship shared between her mother and his mother. They warned him to be kind to Marinette and to help her around the house if she ever got lost.

During the entire time that his parents were talking Adrien continued to stare at Marinette and noticed that she never looked up at him; in fact, it didn't even look like she was aware that he had even entered the room. Not wanting her to not notice him, Adrien quickly stood on the chair he sat on and leaned towards the girl to get her attention before greeting her with one of his biggest smiles, "Hi Marinette! My name is Adrien!"

Adrien's sudden introduction halted whatever his parents were telling him, and Mrs. Agreste couldn't help but smile at her son's antics. Adrien was a happy child who wanted to make friends with everyone that came his way, even if they were strangers, so it didn't surprise her when her son took to Sabine's daughter immediately. What did surprise the Agreste however was Marinette recoiling away from Adrien and shutting her eyes tightly before hugging herself into a ball shape.

The suddenness of Marinette's negative reaction to Adrien caused him to fall back on his chair before he stood up once again and tried to reach out to the other child as a means of comfort. At this point, Marinette gave halting breaths and trembled in her seat; her arms were wrapped around herself and her bluebell eyes were shut tightly.

"Adrien! Sit down!" Gabriel Agreste urgently commanded before turning to the little girl at his side, confused and unaccustomed on what to do. Tara Agreste took control and cooed softly to the distraught girl while rubbing her back soothingly; coaxing her to calm down and relax.

It took 30 agonizing minutes before Marinette calmed down, but halfway through her panic attack she seemed to have gotten worse before slowly calming down. With one last shuddering breath Marinette's whimpers subsided but she refused to look at the blonde boy, instead focusing her attention to her hands.

A tense silence followed shortly after her recovery before Mrs. Agreste finally got up and walked over to Adrien's side, "Adrien, Sweetheart, do you want to come with mommy to make sure Marinette's room is set up?"

Adrien could only nod dumbly before he got up from his chair and followed his mother out of the dining room, leaving behind his father and the little girl that had nearly cried when he got too close to her. Halfway down the hall and Adrien stopped in his tracks before asking his mother in an upset voice, "Mommy, does Marinette hate me?"

"No, Sweetheart! Marinette is just – She's just confused and hurting a lot right now. She can't see her mama and papa anymore and she's really sad about that. You just surprised her is all, Sweetheart. I'm sure you and Marinette will become best friends like you and Chloe once she feels better." Tara assured after she stopped walking and kneeled down in front of her son.

"Do you really think so, mommy?" Adrien asked hopefully, his wheat colored eyes shining at his mother's words.

"Of course, Sweetheart."

A sweet smile lit Adrien's face before he suddenly grabbed his mother hand and tried to drag her further down the hall. "Come on, mommy! We have to make sure Marinette's room is perfect!"

One week after Marinette Dupain-Cheng moved into the Agreste household she disappeared. Everyone was in a panic, searching for the young girl and after looking everywhere for her on the house grounds and coming up with nothing, the search expanded to throughout Paris. Of course, the first place they looked for her was at her parent's former bakery, but when they couldn't find her there or around the area they became more desperate.

Using his connections with the Mayor, Mr. Agreste managed to pull the police into the search party without any delays and still, no one was able to find the small child until near dusk. Strangely enough, the person that found Marinette was Mr. Agreste himself whom had returned to the bakery to double check that Marinette wasn't there, only to have found her sitting on the front steps of the permanently closed bakery, staring at nothing.

His first instinct was to scold her for her sudden departure, but as he got closer to her he noticed the wetness of her eyes and the paleness of her complexation.

It was the autumn season and the temperatures were getting colder as the days went by, and Gabriel Agreste noticed that Marinette gave the barest of shivers while sitting in front of her parent's bakery. She looked like a lost child who had nowhere to go; an orphan child who didn't understand that her parents weren't with her anymore.

Taking off his coat, Mr. Agreste stopped right in front of Marinette before sitting down beside her and placing the coat around her. The sudden action brought Marinette out of her thoughts and she turned slightly to the older man beside her, when she finally registered who was beside her she looked down guiltily.

"You shouldn't have left the house."

"I'm sorry."

"If you wanted to come here, you should have simply told me, Mrs. Agreste, or even Nathalie."

"I'm really sorry…"

"Sorry isn't enough Marinette, you scared everyone with your sudden disappearance. You need to take responsibility for what happened, you can't just leave on your own without telling somebody and you can't just walk out of the house without someone to accompany you. Accompany means that someone is going somewhere with you." Gabriel scolded while explaining a word that he figured would be too complicated for a child of seven to understand.

"I know… I just really wanted to come home." Marinette whispered, holding the coat closer to her body to fend against the cold air.

Gabriel was silent for a moment before he got up from his seat on the steps of the closed bakery; he dusted dirt from himself before turning to the heartbroken girl who wouldn't look up at him. In fact, she looked far too embarrassed and ashamed to look at anything except for the ground in front of her, and just for the barest of moments Gabriel felt pity for the little girl.

He released a quiet sigh before kneeling down to the girl and gently opened one of his hands palm side-up towards her. "It's time to go home, Marinette." Gabriel's deliberate use of the word "home" was meant to act as an invitation to the young girl to think of the Agreste Castle as her new home should she wish to; an invitation that probably went over the seven-year-old's head.

Marinette, however, surprised him by slowly looking up at him and giving him one of the shyest smiles he had ever seen. She gently placed her right hand into his awaiting hand, and slowly got up from her seat. Using the hand that wasn't currently be held, Marinette dusted herself off as well before looking up at the older Agreste male and whispered, "Thank you." It appeared that the invitation hadn't gone over her head, and instead of ignoring it she acknowledged it.

Together, they walked back to the Agreste Castle and once they passed the front gates Mrs. Agreste rushed out the front doors and nearly tackled the small child wrapped in her husband's coat.

"Marinette! Oh, please don't scare us like that again, Ma Cherie."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Agreste." Marinette mumbled, feeling guilty for causing the panic in the older woman.

"Just promise me you won't do that again, okay? Honey, where did you find her?" Tara assured before turning to her husband.

While the adults talked amongst themselves for a little bit, a young boy peered at the edge of the front doorway at the little girl that was currently standing in front of his parents. She didn't look that much better from when he first saw her a week ago, but she had the barest of smiles on her face even though her eyes were being strange again.

Adrien was relieved that Marinette was found, but he couldn't help but think that her running away might have had something to do with him. After all, Marinette did everything she could to avoid him and he began worrying that maybe she really didn't like him at all and just when he finally had the courage to confront her and actually get to know her, she had disappeared.

He had worried for the whole day that Marinette had run away because she hated him and didn't want to be anywhere near him, and when she was found and appeared to be okay around his parents but not him really concerned him. Adrien really wanted to befriend this sad girl because he hoped that maybe she would start smiling again instead of always looking so gloomy all the time.

Deciding to stay where he was, right behind the large doors, Adrien observed the way his parents interacted with Marinette and the way she responded to them. Marinette's response to his parents weren't overly obvious, and where mainly shy and polite. She answered their questions with simple responses and she kept a respectful distance from them – or at least as much distance as she could place between them and her with one of her hands still being held by his father. She didn't look particularly comfortable around them, but she didn't look uncomfortable or afraid of them either; which was supposed to be a good thing, but Adrien couldn't help but feel a little left out because of Marinette's obvious discomfort around him.

With a small frown, Adrien walked away from the doors and headed back to his room and away from the little girl that he thought disliked him. He didn't notice the bluebell eyes that followed him.

* * *

 **So, I hope you guys liked the first chapter of my story and in the next chapter I'll go more into depth on what happened to the Dupain-Chengs as well as write on Marinette's perspective. Thanks for reading and please give me some feedback, it's been years since I last wrote a fanfic and I'm kinda nervous.**


	2. Chapter 2

Marinette stared at the bright red numbers that were displayed on her clock, and couldn't help but hate the color. Red was the color of fire, it was associated with blood, and it reminded her of the past that she couldn't return to. But it was also associated with luck and ladybugs, her favorite bugs alongside butterflies.

Knowing that she wasn't going to be getting much sleep that night, Marinette got out of bed and decided to walk around her room for a little bit. She hadn't felt like exploring the first two week that she had been there, and to be honest she didn't feel like exploring now, but she couldn't risk lying in bed and doing nothing; the memories tend to attack her more frequently when she wasn't busy.

The room that had been provided for her by the Agreste was large – larger than her family's living room – but it was mostly empty aside from her bed, nightstand, couch and coffee table, and the desk and chair she had placed at the top room that was connected to her main room through the staircase. There was also a patio connected to the top room, and Marinette felt a deep gratitude to the Agreste for giving her a room that was vaguely similar to her old room at the bakery. She always loved going to her rooftop at night and staring up at the sky; looking out at the lights of the city glowing all around her like a sea of artificial stars or staring up at the moon on clear nights.

But even those good memories of nights before were tainted by the sadness and loss that Marinette felt, and she immediately shut her thoughts away from the patio before her mind could torment her any further. Because of the bareness of the room there wasn't much for Marinette to use to distract herself with, and she turned back to look at the clock once more; the numbers 4:43 a.m. were displayed. There was nothing she could do at that moment in the room that would occupy her mind long enough for her to dose off to sleep, and Marinette had to do something before she got ensnared in her memories.

She had to do something, anything that would be enough to distract her while at the same time not require much thinking. Cleaning her room would have been a viable option, but her room was cleaned daily by the staff and so there wasn't much to clean at all. In that instant, Marinette regretted telling the Agreste that she didn't want anything from her home aside from her clothes, but she… she just wasn't ready to go back and look at the house that contained so many memories of her maman and papa.

Releasing a tired sigh, Marinette glanced back up at the upper-level room that housed the desk and chair before turning away and shaking her head. No. She was trying to avoid her memories, not make them worse by designing. She glanced back up at the door that connected her room to the rest of the house and made her decision.

Walking back to the nightstand to check on the small jar of fresh fruits that was placed there a few hours before, Marinette was pleased to find that they were mostly untouched; only missing a few blueberries here and there. Picking up the round brooch that was next to the jar, Marinette securely pinned it to her shirt before quietly walking out of her room and heading straight towards the kitchen.

Cookies? No, it was too early in the day to make cookies. Maybe something breakfast-related, like pain au chocolat? She immediately scrapped the idea after realizing that it was too complicated of a recipe to do just to keep herself busy and she doubted that the Agreste would help her eat them due to the amount of sugar that would be required to make them.

Maybe croissants? Yes, fresh croissants required quite a bit of time to make but she was familiar with the recipe after helping her parents make them so many time for the store, and the Agreste might be willing to eat a piece or two. Suddenly remembering the shelter homes that her parents used to send all their unbaked goods to, Marinette decided that if there were any leftover pastries she could always asked the kitchen staff to send them there.

Finally reaching a decision, Marinette walked about the kitchen and grabbed the smallest apron she could find before searching out all the ingredients she needed to make the croissants from scratch. She measured out the ingredients from memory and went about making the dough; folding and rolling it just the way her maman had taught her. When the first dough was done being folded she place it aside and started on another batch of dough, and so continued the process of making the croissants. By the time she was done with the third batch, the first batch was finally ready to be folded and molded once more.

While she was busy working on the croissants, she didn't notice the kitchen staff slowly trickling in. They all watched in silence as the little girl before them focused on her task; it was the first time they had seen her doing anything outside of hiding in her room all day or disappearing for hours on end with the Gorilla.

When the oven beeped, signaling the completion of the first batch of croissants, Marinette was surprised when larger hands pulled out the hot pan and placed them on the counter behind her. She looked up for the first time since she had started her task and was surprised to see most of the kitchen staff watching her; feeling slightly embarrassed at having been caught in the kitchen and with flour covering her, Marinette blushed and gave a quick apology for entering the kitchen without permission.

"Do you mind if I tried one?" An older gentleman asked; the same one that had pulled the pan out of the oven.

Marinette nodded dumbly, surprised that she wasn't getting scolded for trespassing. Kitchens were usually considered sacred by chefs, bakers, and cooks and entering one uninvited – to bake no less – was considered an encroachment on territory.

The man took off the oven mittens that he had previously worn, and took one of the still hot croissant from the pan with a napkin before blowing on it and taking a bite. He immediately pulled the croissant away from his face and gave it one of the most calculated looks Marinette had ever seen. Before Marinette could apologize for the taste of the croissant, the man turned to her and gave her one of the biggest smile she had seen in a long time.

"This croissant is quite amazing Little Miss. You are quite skilled at baking it seems." He complimented before eating the rest of the croissant; burning his mouth a little bit in the process.

Curious by the taste of Marinette's croissants, the kitchen staff that were all there requested if they could try one – seeing as she was making three batches of a dozen croissants – earning a quick nod from the small girl. Each of the staff were delightfully surprised at the deliciousness of Marinette's croissants, and complimented her on her amazing skills.

Her face now a bright pink, Marinette resumed her chore of completing the rest of the croissants; silently reminding herself to ask the kitchen staff to bring some of the croissants to the Agreste for breakfast and sending any leftovers to any nearby shelter homes. Somehow, Marinette doubted that there would be any leftovers.

Recently the Agreste household has been dealing with an influx on pastries, and Gabriel Agreste couldn't understand why. Normally the kitchen staff stuck to the strict health diet that M. Agreste had informed them about, but there has been an increase in starch and sugar in the Agreste diet lately.

Wanting to find the cause of this sudden change, Gabriel headed towards the kitchen; only to halt right at the doors when he smelled the sweet scent of freshly baked cookies. Weary of the smell in his home, he slowly opened the door and was met with the sight of Marinette at the kitchen island; delicately putting the cookies on a cooling rack while another set of hands moved the next batch of cookies into the oven.

The rest of the staff were quick to notice their employer and immediately moved to silence him before he could say anything; which could potentially interrupt the young girl's concentration.

Too surprised by the staff's sudden reaction, and Marinette in the kitchen, Gabriel obediently followed his head chef back out the doors. "M. Agreste, we are quite surprised to see you here."

Quickly regaining his control, Gabriel replaced his shocked expression with one of indifference before turning to his head chef. "Yes, well I came by to ask why there was a sudden change in my family's diet, but I do believe that I've already been given my answer."

"Ah, yes. The Litt- I mean, Miss Marinette has been coming by lately to bake whatever comes to her mind, and none of us had the heart to turn her away. If you wish M. Agreste, we can send all of Miss Marinette's pastries to the shelter homes nearby. That is what we've been doing every time she makes an excessive amount of a certain baked good." The chef offered, worried that M. Agreste might forbid the young child from going into the kitchen again.

Gabriel gave a small hum before shaking his head, "No, the arrangement right now is fine. Just make the portions of the sweets smaller from here on out."

Without another word, Gabriel walked back into the kitchen and watched how Marinette placed the last batch of cookie dough on the tray and setting it aside. She checked that the cookies she had just laid out were perfectly cooled before nodding her head at one of the kitchen staff whom handed her a box to place the cookies in. Pleased that the normally sad child looked to be somewhat content in the kitchen, Gabriel turned back around and headed to his office. No doubt his wife would be just as pleased as he was to learn that Marinette had taken up a hobby to distract herself.

An hour later Gabriel and Tara Agreste were found in the former's office, where they were offered a plate of three cookies. Both adults took one cookie each, much to the surprise of Mme. Agreste, and took a bite of the sweet. While Tara took a hearty bite of her cookie, Gabriel took a more delicate bite and was pleasantly surprised when he found that the cookie wasn't overly sweet and tasted rather good. Within three short bites, the cookie that had been in Gabriel Agreste's hand was gone and he was found rather perplexed that the cookie had been finished so quickly.

Tara couldn't hide the giggle that bubbled up at her husband's silly reaction, before finishing her cookie and reaching out for the last cookie on the plate. A second later Gabriel reached out for the cookie as well, but was met with an empty plate. Surprised at the emptiness of the plate, he looked up and was met with the face of a highly amused Tara and he couldn't help the annoyed frown once he saw her holding the cookie triumphantly in her hand.

Adrien was upset. Very upset. It had been roughly two and a half weeks since Marinette came to live with them, and he hadn't had a chance to talk to her at all. Every time he went to go look for her, she would always mysteriously disappear. She never ate breakfast, lunch, or dinner with the family and when he had asked his parents 'why?' they simply told him that Marinette had already eaten or was eating in her room as per her request.

To make matters worse, Chloe had come over to play with him at his house the previous day and she had immediately run off to find Marinette on her own. Normally there wouldn't be a problem because he was certain that Marinette wouldn't be found anyways, but no. Chloe had found Marinette in the backyard and actually managed to get into an argument with the normally quiet girl before he reached them.

In hindsight, the argument wasn't even that big of a deal. Chloe had just been rude and demanded that the other girl play with them, but Marinette had refused on the grounds that Chloe was being incredibly mean to her. Chloe got angry at the accusation and threw a terrible tantrum at the half-Chinese girl; a tantrum that served to agitate Marinette even more, and she was quick to scold Chloe for her childish behavior before walking away from the pair.

Of course, Chloe couldn't allow someone who wasn't her to have the last word in an argument and so she followed after Marinette and persistently nagged at the girl to play with them until she finally agreed; only to say that she wouldn't play with them until Chloe asked again, but nicer. Surprisingly, Chloe had asked the girl to play with them once more and even added in a 'please' at the end to further convince the other girl to play with them; though she did this reluctantly and looked like she was about to throw another tantrum.

For almost the entire day yesterday, Marinette had actually played games with them; games ranging from princess and dragons to hide-and-seek. Marinette had played with them. The quiet girl who always mysteriously disappeared whenever he was looking for her, had been found by Chloe within an hour and whom had managed to get her to play with them. Something that he had been trying to do since she first came to live with him and had yet to complete.

There wasn't a real reason why Adrien should have been annoyed that his friend had managed to do something that he couldn't, but the young boy couldn't help but feel jealous that Chloe had managed to accomplish something that he couldn't. Not only was he worried that Marinette would not want to be friends with him, but he was also worried that Chloe and Marinette might become the best of friends and leave him behind.

Getting up from his bed, Adrien left his room and headed towards the kitchen to get some water to drink. It was still really early in the morning – the sun wasn't even up yet – but Adrien was a big boy now, and he wasn't afraid of any possible monsters that lurked in the shadows. Besides, he was too upset to really care about the monsters anyways.

Walking down the hall, Adrien stopped right in front of the kitchen doors when he noticed that the lights were on inside before shrugging and opening the doors anyways. The smell of fresh croissants permeated the air as soon as he opened the door, and his eyes were immediately drawn to the croissants that were placed right in the center of the kitchen.

Believing that the kitchen staff had started on making breakfast earlier, Adrien walked towards the croissants and carefully picked one up to eat. When he was done with the first croissant, he picked up another and another. By the time Adrien had started on his fourth croissant, he had noticed the batch of croissants in the oven and another batch that was placed on another counter. He was slightly suspicious of why there was so many croissants, but opted to ignore them and went back to pick another croissant from the pile before immediately freezing.

Marinette was standing on the other side of the kitchen, wearing an apron that was slightly too big on her. An apron that was slightly coated in flour. Marinette had flour on her hands and on one side of her cheek. Marinette had made the croissants, not the kitchen staff – which he finally realized that there was none of in the room.

Having been caught eating her croissants, Adrien blushed an embarrassing shade of red before apologizing profusely. "I- I'm so sorry Marinette! I came in for water, but then I saw these and thought the staff made them. Not that there's anything wrong with you making them, they're really good! I mean, you used to live in a bakery of course you know they're good. I mean – sorry I shouldn't have said anything. I'm really sorry!" Adrien fled the kitchen as quickly as he could, feeling incredibly embarrassed about his rambling and having been caught eating Marinette's pastries without her permission; speaking of pastries, the croissants tasted as good as the pastries that had been given to him this entire week.

When breakfast came around and Adrien was given a few croissants, he was embarrassed to realize that he had eaten Marinette's pastries before. Later, after breakfast, when he had asked his parents if Marinette had been the one making the pastries and snacks of the past week he was further embarrassed when they revealed that she had in fact made them. This entire time, he had been eating Marinette's pastries without even realizing it and had made a complete fool of himself yesterday when he had bragged to Chloe about how awesome his chefs were for making such amazing snacks and desserts; right in front of Marinette!

He must have looked so uncool to her yesterday when he was gushing about how amazing the person who made the pastries were. Groaning to himself, Adrien stopped right in front of the staircase and sat down on one of the steps there and hid his face in his hands. How was he supposed to make friends with Marinette after he just completely embarrassed himself in front of her yesterday and this morning?

"Adrien, is something the matter?"

Looking up, Adrien came face to face with Nathalie. His pére's secretary looked concerned for him but other than that remained at a respectful distance away from him. He groaned again and hid his face once more.

"Adrien?"

"Why am I so uncool?" Adrien asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Uncool?" Nathalie asked; clearly confused at the boy's question.

Having no one else to talk to since his parents had left for a business meeting, Adrien told Nathalie about what had happened and explained to her why he must have looked so uncool to Marinette. Once he was done explaining, he resumed his self-pity and once more hid his face in his hands.

Not quite understanding the logic of a seven-year-old, Nathalie was at a complete lost on how to comfort the boy; not that she could have done much better if he had been older and his woes had been more sound. Deciding to imitate Mme. Agreste's mannerism during situations like these, Nathalie awkwardly placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder and tried to give him a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure Marinette doesn't think that you're umm… uncool, Adrien." She tried to soothe.

"But then why won't she talk to me? She never wants to play with me, and the only time she did play with me was because Chloe asked her to. Chloe actually managed to talk to Marinette!" Adrien sadly pointed out.

Not having the answer to that question Nathalie awkwardly stood there in silence; at a complete lost on what to do. Knowing that that was all he would be able to get out of Nathalie – and feeling slightly guilty for making the woman uncomfortable – Adrien slowly got up and headed towards his room, while mumbling a halfhearted excuse for his departure.

A few hours later, there was a knock at Adrien's door and he reluctantly got up from his couch and placed his book down on the table. Still feeling dishearten about his situation with Marinette, he was completely surprised when he saw the girl on the other side of the door carrying a platter of croissants.

Marinette shuffled around for a bit before pushing the platter towards Adrien; a clear indication that she wanted him to take it. Once the platter was safely transferred from one pair of hands to another, Marinette released a quiet sigh before looking up at him. He was once again struck by how blue they were and couldn't help staring at them while Marinette was speaking.

"I saw how upset you were today, and you said that you liked the croissants I make so I made you some fresh ones right now to help cheer you up. I hope you like them ju– Adrien?"

Adrien snapped back to reality and stared down at the platter full of croissants that had just been given to him and then looked back up at Marinette. When her words finally processed in his head, Adrien gave her his brightest smile. Heading back to the table, Adrien bent down slightly to carefully place the platter down before standing back up and racing back towards Marinette.

"Marinette, do you want to play some video games with me?" Adrien asked hopefully.

Marinette's body immediately tensed up before she forcefully relaxed herself, and shook her head in a negative. However, seeing the way Adrien's face immediately fell made Marinette guilty and she was quick to explain why she couldn't play video games with him at the moment. "I'm sorry Adrien, but your pére wants to talk to me right now. Maybe I can play with you on Sunday?"

The bright smile quickly returns on Adrien's face and he nodded his head in agreement. "Okay! Then we'll play on Sunday. Pinky promise?" He raised one of his pinky to Marinette and waited for her to link her pinky with his. Once the pinkies were linked and the promise made, Marinette bid good-bye to the blonde boy before heading towards his pére's office.

It was late at night and almost everyone in the Agreste household was asleep. The only source of light in Marinette's room was the nightlight that Mme. Agreste had given her a few days ago, but no amount of darkness could possibly obscure her vision enough that she couldn't make out the small item in her hands. The key to her family's bakery.

M. and Mme. Agreste had both presented the key to her earlier that afternoon after she had dropped off the platter of croissant to Adrien, and ever since then she couldn't wrap her mind around what had happened. The bakery was hers now. No one could buy it and throw away all the items that were still inside that building. Her home was still hers. But it wouldn't be the same anymore. 'Life hadn't been the same for a while now.' Marinette dully noted.

"Marinette? You need to sleep." A soft, tired voice called out from the pile of pillows on her bed.

Marinette turned to the source of the voice and apologized, "I'm sorry Nooroo, did I wake you up?"

"It's fine Marinette, but I'm really worried about you. I'm glad that you're finally reaching out to Adrien, but ever since you got that key you've been really sad. Please come to bed Marinette." The butterfly kwami got up from his pile of pillows and flew over to Marinette; rubbing his head against Marinette's cheek as a sign of affection and the kwami equivalence of a hug.

Not wanting to worry her kwami any more than she already had, Marinette placed the key on the nightstand and got into bed. Nooroo resettled on his pile of pillows and drifted back to sleep, Marinette followed soon after; for once not haunted by her nightmares.

* * *

 **Hey guys, I'm gonna be trying to update on Thursdays. Of course, if I don't have time then I won't be able to make the dateline because I don't want to write a rushed chapter. Anyways, I'm curious to see if anyone got the** **initial hint at the beginning of the chapter about Marinette's brooch?**

 **Thanks a lot to everyone who commented, favored, and followed the story. Like last time, please tell me what you guys liked and don't like about the chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

Adrien was incredibly excited. Today was the day he and Marinette would be playing video games in his room and everything had to be absolutely perfect.

Moving all his games onto the desk that contained his computer as well as an extra chair for Marinette, Adrien stepped back and decided that snacks would be needed for their game day.

But what did Marinette like? She never ate any meals with him and the few times he did see her, she hadn't eaten much of anything. In fact, the only time he could recall her eating anything, was some berries that the staff had brought out alongside some of her own baked goods as a snack for them to eat the last time Chloe was there to play.

Not really knowing what to offer Marinette, Adrien decided to head downstairs and ask the kitchen staff if they knew anything; after all, they were the ones that brought Marinette her meals every single day.

As Adrien made his way towards the kitchen he saw Marinette walk out of her room. She looked down and was tugging her jacket closer to herself while quietly mumbling something. She headed downstairs and appeared as though she was about to head towards the front doors.

"Marinette!"

Adrien's sudden call for her startled Marinette so badly that she stumbled the last few steps of the stairs, resulting in her crashing face first onto the floor. Feeling panicked and guilty for causing Marinette to fall, Adrien rushed down the stairs towards her to help her up.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette! I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine, Adrien. I'm okay."

Marinette got up from her position on the floor and rubbed at her face in an attempt to sooth the pained skin. Adrien offered her a weak smile before looking down at the floor, ashamed that he had accidently hurt the girl due to his panic earlier.

"Was there a reason why you called me?" Marinette asked, noticing the sad look on the blonde's face and the way he tensed up when she spoke.

"Uhm, I was just curious about what you were doing today." Adrien hesitantly replied; he didn't know if she remembered their promise or not and didn't want to bother the girl if she really did forget, even if he would be a little sad if that were the case.

Marinette stared at Adrien for a bit before answering him, "I was going to go outside and think for a little bit before coming back in and play games with you like we promised."

"You remembered?" Adrien asked; awed that Marinette actually kept her promise and would actually be playing with him that day.

"I always keep my promises, Mi- Adrien. Always." Marinette offered him a slight smile before heading towards the door and giving him a quick wave before she disappeared outside.

Happy that Marinette really hadn't forgotten about their promise, Adrien skipped all the way to the kitchen to complete his original quest.

After asking the staff if there was anything in particular that Marinette liked to eat, Adrien was disappointed to learn that they didn't really know much either. Whenever the meals were brought up for her, they found that she ate very little of it and the only thing that she ever requested for was fruits, specifically berries if there were any. They hadn't seen her eat any of her own baked goods either; apparently, Marinette baked because she wanted to and not because she wanted something sweet to eat.

At a complete lost over what to have for snacks, Adrien just decided on the fruits even though they weren't exactly gaming material in his opinion. When everything was just about ready, Marinette came back into the house and Adrien all but dragged her into his room to start the games.

As the day progressed, Adrien genuinely thought that the day had been amazing. Everything was so fun with Marinette around, and she was amazing at video games; she beat him at almost every game! Sometimes, he even caught her staring at him with a small smile and that only made him happier; maybe Marinette did like him after all.

But then he put in the game 'Ultimate Mecha Strike' and everything went downhill from there. He didn't notice it at first, but Marinette had tensed up when the game began. It started off small, normally when he put a game in and they had to choose a character to play as Marinette was normally quick with her decision, but with this game Marinette stared at the ladybug themed avatar for a long time before ultimately deciding on the butterfly avatar instead. As usual, Adrien picked the NAD01 as his character and their match commenced.

Looking back on it now, Adrien should have realized that Marinette had been incredibly easy to beat at the game and he should have questioned the ease of it at the time. He should have realized that Marinette had gone deadly pale when he picked the cat-themed avatar, should have realized that Marinette was virtually frozen in her seat almost the entire duration of their fight, should have realized that her breathing became more frantic as he beat her and uttered the words, 'Purrfect victory, huh, Marinette?'

He should have realized all the signs that pointed to a possible panic attack, but he didn't. Adrien could only watch in horror as Marinette sobbed and screamed in front of him; drawing her body closer to herself and yelling about something that didn't make sense.

Adrien was so horrified at the sight before him, he didn't realize his parents had ran into his room followed by Nathalie and the Gorilla. He was only aware of their presence after he saw his mother kneeling besides the hysterical girl to try and calm her down, but that only made Marinette wail louder.

Marinette's sobs became so loud and desperate, that Adrien couldn't help but wanting to reach out for her and hug her; to comfort her in any way that he could. The only thing preventing him from doing so, however, was the way she reacted to his mother. If his mama couldn't comfort the girl like she had before, then how was he supposed to help her when he was more than likely the cause of her panic attack?

The people inside of the room could only watch in silence as the little girl before them completely broke down before she eventually stopped crying due to exhaustion. Once they were all sure that Marinette was asleep, M. Agreste picked up the tiny girl and carried her back to her room while Mme. Agreste stayed behind to question her son about what had happened. Nathalie ushered the Gorilla downstairs and assured the staff that Marinette was just emotionally stressed that day and she should be fine by tomorrow morning.

Everyone in the manor silently pitied the small boy that had apparently caused Marinette's attack; they all knew how excited he had been about that day, and with the way it had ended they were concerned for both children.

Once his pére came back from Marinette's room, Adrien silently listened to his mama explain to his father what had happened. His parents talked for a little bit amongst themselves before assuring Adrien that Marinette is fine, and that if he wanted he could talk to her tomorrow. After his parents left his room with quiet good-byes and soft reassurances, Adrien decided for himself that he would try to stay as far away from Marinette as possible; he didn't want to cause her anymore pain.

However, despite having a strong resolve on his decision Adrien was still sad that he couldn't become friends with Marinette and quietly cried to himself that night. The next morning, Adrien woke up to a platter of croissants on his desk.

* * *

After living one year with Marinette, Adrien realized how much weaker she was compared to him and Chloe. She was small and skinny compared to them, and he heard many of the adults whispering amongst themselves about how frail Marinette was. How she looked like she could break into two if she fell the wrong way. How her body got more delicate as time went by in that one year. How easily she bruised even though her falls and bumps didn't appear to be too hard.

Adrien found that fact to be terrifying, and the white butterflies that always seemed to trail after the girl didn't help matters at all; if anything, they just reinforced Marinette's delicate appearance. The combination of Marinette's weak health, soft appearance, and panic attacks reinforced Adrien's resolve to stay away from the girl for fear of hurting her by accident.

* * *

On the second year, Adrien found out that his parents had bought Marinette's old home and gave it to her as a memento of sorts. At the time, he hadn't understood what memento meant but had understood that it was very important to Marinette, but Chloe didn't appear to be as understanding and had made a stupid comment about how the building must have been old and dusty by then and was therefore not a good present. He had gotten into a particularly nasty argument with her and was upset that his only friend had made such an insensitive comment.

He found a platter of croissants in his room the next morning.

* * *

The third year was a surprise for the entire Agreste household. Apparently, Marinette was somewhat of a 'fashion prodigy' which translated to her being very good at fashion designing. Adrien hadn't really understood why his parents were so hyped up about this revelations until his mother explained to him that this would be the perfect opportunity for Marinette to relax and move on from what happened to her parents.

Still, Adrien couldn't help but feel a little bit envious at the way his father and Marinette interacted. Marinette seemed to be somewhat relax with his pére and sometimes his pére would cast looks of pride and adoration towards her when she showed him a particularly good design or completed making a certain cloth item. That year, he woke up to quite a bit of croissants on his desk but the number of the pastry on his plate varied from one to two.

* * *

Adrien noticed several things on the fourth year. One of those things being Chloe's sudden attachment towards him and constant need to have him over at her place. The second thing he noticed was that Marinette was very pretty. He remembered that year as the strangest year of his life.

He understood that Marinette was a pretty girl even before that year, but for some reason he didn't fully realize it until he saw Marinette scolding Chloe for being inconsiderate about his personal space. Of course, an argument broke out between the two girls but eventually Chloe gave in and apologized to him before glaring at Marinette and walking away, clearly annoyed but not willing to start another argument with the noirette.

Another thing that happened that year was that he joined fencing, at his pére's insistence, and so did Marinette. Their rides from the house to fencing practice was the only time they were together and were usually quiet and awkward, but Adrien couldn't help but feel slightly happy that he got to spend some time with her despite them not really talking to each other. Of course, he also learned that Marinette wasn't very good at fencing and was unusually frustrated with her performance despite being patient with everything else.

He also remembered that Marinette got bruises easily; this clearly didn't just worry him as he has heard his parents talking to her on several occasions about possibly doing something else besides fencing, which she – fortunately and unfortunately – rejected.

Oh, and he also found out that he loved it when Marinette's hair was down.

* * *

On the fifth year, both Adrien and Chloe found out about what happened to Marinette's parents. They had died in a car accident when they were on their way to a party that Chloe's father had been hosting at the time. Chloe vaguely remembered that party as her worst birthday party because the pastries hadn't come in at all that day and her father had sent her away to her room after she had made an insensitive comment about how late the bakers were being, not knowing about the tragic accident.

Chloe had been extremely shy to go to his house that year and avoided seeing Marinette as much as she could. Adrien had tried talking to Chloe and telling her that Marinette would understand; after all, Marinette was a very kind and considerate person and she must have known about what happened to her parents better than anyone and had still decided to become friends with the blonde girl.

When Chloe still refused, Adrien was sad that his childhood friend could potentially lose a friend in the only other person in his life that was important aside from his family; even if the noirette didn't know just how important she was to the male. The next morning, Adrien found another platter of croissants in his room.

* * *

The sixth year since Marinette lived with him, Adrien finally learned that all of Marinette's smiles were sad. All the times she had been smiling throughout the years that she had been living in the Agreste manor had been tragic smiles that showed the pain she held within her, pain that he hadn't understood until his mother's disappearance.

Earlier that year, his mama went missing and the remaining Agreste family fell apart. His pére alternated between being in his office or at the police station, demanding that they do everything in their power to find his mama. Marinette and Nathalie were forced to take on the majority of his pére's workload from the company while maintaining control of the household staff. Meanwhile, Adrien threw himself into his classes while at the same time helping the company maintain its public image by becoming its head model and spokesperson; asking the public for any information they could give in regard to his mother's disappearance during public conferences or interviews.

By the end of the year, his mother's case was abandoned and pushed aside for newer cases. His pére locked himself in his office and only came out when it was absolutely necessary. Marinette's weak health eventually overcame her and she was forced to rest for an entire week after she collapsed from lack of sleep and nutrients as well as stress. Adrien could do nothing but mourn in silence as he continued his lessons and followed his father's strict rules. Not once did he wake up to fresh croissants in the morning that year.

* * *

 **So, I said "screw it" because I really wanted to post tomorrow's chapter today. It's shorter than the previous chapter but I hope you guys like it regardless. If not, please tell me why you guys' don't like it so that I'll know what to avoid in the future. Also, I keep on forgetting to ask but would anyone consider betaing for me for my future chapters? If you're interested please let me know!**

 **Thank you everyone for commenting, favoriting, and following this story. I really appreciate it!**

 **Oh, and next week's chapter might either be late or early. It depends on how much free time I have because all my midterms are coming up next week and I am super stress about my Organic class.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Illustrious Beta-Reader: ShadowofDarkness2004**

* * *

Nooroo watched his Miraculous holder from the small table on the balcony, a strawberry in between his paws.

Marinette stood a few feet away from him, tending to her flowers while simultaneously humming a soft tune. The white butterflies that gathered around the young girl all fluttered in anxiousness.

"Are you sure about this, Marinette?" Nooroo asked. "It's not too late to revoke your decision. There's still time." He watched the way his holder tensed as he attempted to persuade her to change her mind, and he knew that she really wanted to listen to his advice but would ultimately stand by her decision.

"I'm sorry, Nooroo, but we really don't have any more time. It's now or never." Marinette placed her watering can down and turned to her disappointed Kwami.

They both knew this day would come – they've known ever since they made their first decision together almost seven years ago – but to act on it now, after living in peace for so long, was a difficult pill to swallow.

She walked towards her Kwami and carefully picked him up, bringing him closer to her so that she could give him a reassuring kiss on the head; which he returned with a head rub against her cheek.

The pale butterflies all rose from their positions and flew towards the brooch that was pinned to the top of Marinette's blouse, disappearing in a flash of purple light. Marinette placed Nooroo back down on the table and took a seat on the nearby chair.

"I know the butterfly holder can make… Champions, but how are the Champions made?"

"Champions are made from the combination of my magic, your will, and the Champion's desires. The butterflies act as a link between you and the Champions, the magic is flowing through them," Nooroo explained while taking small bites of the berry in front of him.

"Does that mean I have to remain transformed the entire time my Champions are active?" Marinette watched the way Nooroo narrowed his eyes at her in disapproval before staring down at the strawberry in front of him.

"… No, but I highly advise against you detransforming when there is an active Champion, Marinette, especially with your health. My magic becomes your magic when you transform, which means the butterfly is able to link magic to the Champion and keep them active. If you detransform, that supply of magic from me is cut off, and the Champion would have to rely on you as the sole source of his powers… It could really hurt you, Marinette. "

"I know, Nooroo, but I have to do whatever I can to keep the suspicion off me if anyone gets a little too curious about Gabriel Agreste's fashion prodigy."

Nooroo looked up at her with sad eyes, understanding that what she said was a reasonable concern but hating how that left her in far greater danger than any of his previous holders. Waiting for any further questions from Marinette and hearing none, Nooroo continued on to give her the generic information that he has repeated for many millennia.

"Champions are defeated when the object that contains the butterfly is destroyed. The holder of the butterfly Miraculous is generally a noncombatant but in the case of an altercation, they do have their cane, which hides a rapier. The costume changes from wielder to wielder, but in the event that you get wings, you have to be very careful with them, Marinette. A butterfly's greatest weakness is their wings and you will feel them if they're even slightly folded or have tiny tears. It might even prevent you from transforming for a while."

Marinette remained silent for a few moments, silently soaking in everything her Kwami was telling her, before releasing a tired sigh and giving him a sincere smile. "Thank you, Nooroo." Although fear, anxiety, and disappointment raged on inside her, Marinette couldn't help but feel the relief and gratitude she felt towards her Kwami for standing by her side willingly.

Nooroo ate the remainder of the strawberry before smiling up at the girl. "You're welcome, Marinette."

* * *

Adrien nervously stood outside his father's doors, silently debating with himself if he should just await his father's decision or try to persuade his father even further about letting him attend public school. His parents had talked about him and Marinette possibly attending a public school before, but after what had happened in the past year… the topic about public school had simply been placed in the back burner.

He remembered that his father had been extremely reluctant about public school and even made several points about how weak the school education was, claiming that they, his parents, could provide better education for him and Marinette safely at home. Marinette never voiced her opinion on the matter regarding her education, at least not to Adrien's knowledge, but she did occasionally show her displeasure about being holed up on the mansion ground all the time, especially after his pére got more controlling after his mother's disappearance.

"Adrien?" The blond boy turned to the person who called his name and froze at the sight of Marinette; her bluebell eyes cautiously watching him.

Unable to give her one of his model smiles, Adrien nervously rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say in this situation.

"Are you busy with M. Agreste?" Marinette asked, unconsciously moving the portfolio in her hands towards her chest.

"No! I mean, no. I was just going to ask pére if maybe he made his decision," Adrien quickly answered while silently berating himself for spooking Marinette when he raised his voice too loudly at the beginning.

"Oh? About what?" Marinette had a feeling that she already knew what Adrien's request was, but she still wanted to hear it from him; especially due to the fact that they don't have many conversations, and what few conversations they did had were oftentimes short.

"Oh, um, public school actually. I asked pére about possibly going to the same school as Chloe this year," Adrien replied, carefully watching the noirette to gauge her reaction on the topic.

Marinette nodded her head in understanding, smiling slightly for guessing correctly, before looking at the doors that lead to M. Agreste's office. "It's probably best if you don't go in and rush him to make a decision, especially if you mentioned it to him already. The deadline for the Autumn Collection is also closing in and that might make him less incline to agree to your request if you interrupt his concentration when he's busy."

"Right, thanks for the advice, Marinette. Are those some designs for the collection by any chance?" Adrien gestured to the portfolio the girl was holding, and smiled when she nodded her head.

Checking his watch for the time, Adrien cursed when he noticed that his piano lesson was about to start in five minutes. "I'm sorry Marinette, but I got to go. Piano is going to start soon and I don't want Nathalie and the Instructor to come looking for me." With a sheepish smile, Adrien waved at Marinette before turning around and heading towards his piano lessons.

Once Adrien could no longer be seen, Nooroo got out from his hiding spot in Marinette's jacket and looked up at his holder. A wistful expression settled on Marinette's face and due to his title as the Kwami of change, Nooroo was able to sense Marinette's feelings of nostalgia; rubbing his head against her cheek, Nooroo comforted Marinette before silently bidding her to resume her objective.

After making sure that Nooroo was properly hidden away, Marinette knocked on M. Agreste's office doors and waited until he called her in. Once inside the office, Marinette walked towards Gabriel Agreste, whom was sitting behind his desk, and sat down on one of the chairs there.

The room was silent except for the sound of typing and the occasional flip of paper as Gabriel Agreste continued his work in a systematic manner, unwilling to waste time due to poor working ethics. Once he deemed that he had completed enough work to give Marinette some of his time, Gabriel looked up from the computer screen and turned to the young fashion designer, whom had already opened up the portfolio and was pulling out some pieces.

Together, they looked through the designs that the young girl had created as well as some designs from other interns and workers at the company that showed some promise. Occasionally, some of the designs would be accepted without any changes while the vast majority were either thrown away or had subtle alterations to it.

"M. Agreste?" Marinette carefully placed all the rejected designs back into her portfolio, so that she could return them to their rightful owners later, while waiting for her guardian to acknowledge her.

A grunt of acknowledgement was all she got from him, and looking up from the portfolio, Marinette saw that M. Agreste was once again looking at his computer screen with a very displeased expression. Feeling slightly nervous about what she was about to mention, Marinette's grip on the portfolio tightened before she relaxed her hold.

"It's about Adrien's request to go to school, sir."

The clicking of the keyboard suddenly halted and Marinette mentally winced, but remained composed in the face of M. Agreste; whom had turned his displeasure from the computer screen towards her.

"The education that Nathalie offers to you and Adrien is far superior here, at home, then it is in public school. Your safety and Adrien's safety is also more secure here, under my control, than it is outside where I won't always be able to protect you two." Gabriel Agreste stared down at his young charge, daring her to challenge his claims.

A tense silence fell between the two before Marinette got up from her seat and made a show of looking around the room. Once she was done with her inspection, Marinette returned to her seat while calmly placing the portfolio on her lap.

"It's cold," she said.

Gabriel raised an unimpressed brow at Marinette but remained quiet, waiting to see if she had anything else to say. "When I first came here, seven years ago, I remember that the house was big and scary. I was afraid of you and… Mme. Agreste, but I was too numb to acknowledge anything. Then a little boy came into the room and I was suddenly able to feel everything again; the shock, the pain, sadness, everything. I was overwhelmed." Releasing a shaky breath, Marinette continued, "Ever since I met Adrien, he's always been this bright ball of sunshine and happiness and Mme. Agreste was always there to nurture that warmth. But she isn't here right now, and eventually Adrien's warmth will be snuffed out if he remains here without someone to talk to."

"Get out."

Deciding that the best course of action was to obey his orders instead of arguing further, Marinette rose from her seat and bid her guardian goodbye before heading towards the doors. "Just, please consider what I've just said," Marinette softly pleaded before leaving the office.

Giving Adrien a silent apology for what she was about to do next, Marinette headed down the stairs and towards the front of the house, seeking out the Gorilla to drop her off at her old home. Hopefully, M. Agreste wouldn't take the upcoming events into consideration when he decides to let Adrien go to public school or not.

* * *

In a small massage shop in Paris, an elderly man sat in the center of the business, seemingly in deep meditation. A gramophone sat on one of the tables in the back and from that gramophone flew out a green, turtle Kwami. The Kwami seemed to be in a state of panic as he repeatedly called out to the elderly man, "Master! Master!"

Surprised by the sudden noise, Master Fu opened his eyes to look at his Kwami. "What is it, Wayzz? What is wrong?"

"It's the moth- I mean butterfly Miraculous, Master. Nooroo's Miraculous is finally active! But I don't- I can't sense his holder's intentions, Master." Weary that his Kwami couldn't decide if the Miraculous was being used for good or evil, Master Fu couldn't help but feel anxious about this sudden revelation.

They had both been aware that Nooroo was awakened roughly six to seven years ago, but had not once been used to transform. Now, out of nowhere, Nooroo's holder suddenly decides to transform when there was no need for a superhero?

"What of the Miraculous itself? Is it still a butterfly or did it change into a moth?" Master Fu asked.

"The Miraculous is still a butterfly right now, but I can't tell if it will change into the moth Miraculous later," Wayzz answered, clearly concerned for the other Kwami.

Nooroo was the Kwami of change, which meant that his Miraculous was slightly different than the other kwamis; the core representation of his Miraculous could change depending on his wielder's intentions. It was a defense mechanism put in place by Nooroo to warn the other Kwamis in the event that his Miraculous jewel fell into the wrong hands; if his wielder was using the Miraculous for ill intent then the Miraculous jewel would omit black magic and the once pure butterflies that were associated with Nooroo would become black moths of the darkest color.

"Then we are in quite the predicament. On one hand, this wielder might not be evil, but on the other hand they might have ill intent after all and attack the city." Feeling unsure about what to do, Master Fu got up from his position on the floor and headed towards the gramophone.

The rest of the Miraculous jewels were hidden away in the old record player, but he was unsure if they were needed for this situation or not. "Master, perhaps it is best if we look for potential wielders in the event that this new entity is proven to be a villain." Turning to Wayzz, Master Fu acknowledged the wisdom of his Kwami's words before grabbing his cane and taking all the remaining jewels with him. Hopefully, this unknown wielder would prove themselves to be a hero instead of a villain.

* * *

 **So I want to give special thanks to my new Beta-Reader: _ShadowofDarkness2004_. She is awesome and she helped me make this chapter flow a lot smoother and easier to read. Thanks Shadow! I really appreciate your help! :)**

 **I would also like to thank _zeynel_ for informing me on the difference between 'mon' and 'ma' for the first chapter. As you can tell I don't actually know french but I do try to incorporate it into the story as best as I can with 'maman',** **'pére', etc.**

 **Once again, thank you so much for commenting and/or favoriting the story. I hope you guys like this chapter because the next chapter is going to be a doozy.  
**

 **(Posted: 10/28/17) Okay, so life decided to be a jerk and now I'm not too sure if I'm able to produce a chapter this coming week. I'm so sorry if you guys were looking forward to the next chapter, but I need to fix some things right now. Hopefully the 5th chapter will come out the following week.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Illustrious Beta-Reader: ShadowofDarkness2004**

* * *

"No! Again, but this time with more excitement," the photographer demanded, clearly agitated with the model before him.

Adrien looked up from his phone, and saw the angry expression on Vincent's face as he explained once again to the new model to be more expressive. "Ugh! Why is he even doing a shoot with us?" Ella, his modeling partner, asked, upset that the photo shoot was taking longer than planned.

"Give him a chance, he's doing pretty good for a new model," Adrien defended. Ella released an annoyed sigh before muttering about how 'Adrien was too nice' and walking away from the other model.

Left by himself, Adrien checked his phone again for any incoming emails from his father. Seeing none, Adrien instead looked at his contacts list and debated with himself if he should take a chance and call Marinette to check up on her; it had been a few hours since Gorilla dropped her off at her old home and no one had heard from her since.

Ultimately, Adrien decided not to call the noirette and put his phone away, dejected that he didn't have the confidence to call Marinette and having received no new messages from his father.

"Oof!" A grunt brought Adrien out from his thoughts, and he looked up and saw a tiny, old man fall. Rushing over to him, Adrien bent down to help the old Chinese man to his feet. A soft 'thank you' was given to the teen model before Adrien was forced back to the photoshoot by an angry Vincent, whom was still upset about the other model.

Before Adrien could make it back to the set, loud screams from nearby areas got everyone's attention in the park. "Oh my god! What is that?!" Ella yelled as she pointed at what seemed to be a hulky boulder moving towards them.

The sight of the large monster caused everyone in the park to panic and run, leading to chaos. "Adrien? Adrien!" Nathalie called out, frantically searching for her young charge. Mathews, commonly referred to as 'The Gorilla', searched alongside the frantic secretary but as the boulder-like monster got closer to them, they had no choice but to run away from the scene.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the chaos, Adrien had been pushed around and had ended up on the other side of the park. Confused from the chaos that had previously erupted around him, Adrien was dazed and became the last remaining civilian in the park.

Finally realizing the dangerous situation that he was in, Adrien tried to run away from the stone being; unfortunately, the being managed to get a grab at the young teen and pulled him towards it.

Frightened by his sudden predicament, Adrien almost didn't notice the girl who landed on one of the stone being's shoulder. The girl wore what appeared to be a dark purple bodysuit with a vest of a slightly lighter shade, and at the front of vest was a black butterfly pin whose top wings extended all the way to her shoulders. Her blue-black hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a single white butterfly ribbon, and half her face was covered with a white butterfly mask. However, what really got Adrien's attention were the delicate butterfly wings resting behind her.

"Be gentle and put him down, Stoneheart, he isn't who we're looking for," the girl commanded, reaching out to pat the stone arm that currently held Adrien.

With surprising gentleness, Stoneheart placed Adrien down before turning his head to the petite girl on his shoulder. "Where to now, M'lady?" Stoneheart asked, looking around the surrounding area.

Stupefied by the sudden situation, Adrien couldn't help but stare at the strange duo in front of him. It wasn't every day that someone saw a tiny girl command a literal monster to do her bidding. Adrien was so dumbfounded that he didn't realize that the two strangers had left him until they were already a long way away from him, heading in the direction of the Parc de Princes.

"Adrien!" Turning to the voice that shouted his name, Adrien saw Nathalie and the Gorilla rushing to his side and ushering him towards the limousine.

Once they were in the safety of the car, the Gorilla drove off towards the old bakery that Marinette was last seen at. Nathalie glanced at her phone nervously before dialing Marinette's number again and hung up when the phone call directed to voicemail.

* * *

"What do you mean you cannot find her?"

Gabriel sat at his desk with his hands clasped together in front of him while Nathalie and the Gorilla stood completely still in front of their boss. Just outside the office, Adrien pressed himself against the wall so that he could listen in on the conversation without getting caught.

Even from his position outside the office doors, Adrien could feel his father's cool anger directed at the two people inside the office. With his phone in his hand, Adrien looked down at the screen, a picture of Marinette displayed with her number underneath.

"She requested a break at the old bakery, sir. We tried calling her but she won't answer and the bakery doors are- "

"Find her." The command was short and clipped, immediately silencing Nathalie's explanation. With a nod towards their boss, both Nathalie and the Gorilla moved away from him and headed towards the door.

Silently moving towards a hiding spot, Adrien ducked just in time to see the two adults heading outside the front doors. Once he was sure that they were gone, Adrien got up from his hiding spot and spared a glance towards his father's office. With quiet steps, Adrien walked towards the doors once more and peered into the office; his father had moved from his desk and was now standing in front of his mother's portrait.

Recognizing that this was a private moment for his father, Adrien withdrew and walked towards his room. With Marinette's number still on the screen, Adrien pressed the call button, not really expecting an answer, and hung up when the call was directed to voicemail just as he had predicted.

Worried about Marinette but unable to really do anything, Adrien walked into his room and closed the door before turning on the TV to check the news.

Nadja Chamack was on the TV screen and behind her in the upper corner was a video of police officers shooting at Stoneheart, which only made the stone monster bigger. The butterfly girl was nowhere in sight. With a thundering roar, Stoneheart used both of his fists to smash the police cars and effectively scattered the police officers at the scene.

"As incredible as it seems, it has been confirmed that Paris is indeed being attacked by a supervillain. The police have been struggling to keep the situation under control," Nadja informed before being switched out for an interview with a police officer that was at the scene.

"Be confident, the strong arm of the law will come crashing on the-" - the officer winced as he accidentally moved his injured arm - "I mean, the other arm."

Moving to place the remote down on the table, Adrien was surprised to see a small, hexagonal box. "What's this doing here?" He picked up the box and moved it closer to his face before opening it. A ball of green light emitted from the box and Adrien shielded his face away from it.

Once the light was gone, Adrien opened his eyes and was met with the sight of a small, black thing. "No way… Like the genie in the lamp!" Adrien whispered, awed.

"Ugh, please. I'm way better than a genie. I'm way more personable and lovable! The name's Plagg, by the way, kid. Ohh! What's that shiny thing?" Plagg flew over to the Foosball table and tried to take a bite out of one of the heads before recoiling away and sticking his tongue out. "Guess this isn't edible."

He flew up again and started to look through Adrien's room, wreaking havoc as he explored. "Wait, stop! You're making a mess!" Adrien tried to catch Plagg, but the small being was quick and evasive, easily outmaneuvering Adrien.

"We've just been informed that the supervillain has a hostage." Both Plagg and Adrien stopped what they were doing and turned to the TV, watching a video feed of Stoneheart holding a teenage boy in one of his hands.

Stoneheart glowered at the boy in his hands, causing the teenager to cower and struggle even more. The boy squawked as Stoneheart tightened his grip, but, before the villain could actually crush the boy, the outline of a butterfly flashed over his face.

"Hey, is there something to eat?" Plagg asked, causing Adrien to turn away from the TV.

As quickly as he could, Adrien clasped both his hands together to catch Plagg. The small being simply stared up at the boy before repeating his question.

"What are you? How'd you even get in here?" Adrien asked, ignoring Plagg's question.

"Rude. Look, I'm a kwami and I grant special powers, specifically powers of destruction. You put on that ring"- Plagg nodded towards the box that was left on the table- "and the powers of destruction are yours. Now give me Camembert!"

Adrien blinked slowly at the kwami before releasing him and taking a step back. "Is my father playing a prank on me? Impossible, he doesn't have a sense of humor."

Hearing the mention of another human, Plagg flew closer to Adrien. "Your father can't know I exist. No one can, for that matter."

Satisfied when he saw the kid in front of him nod his head in understanding, Plagg backed away a few feet before vocalizing his demands for Camembert once more. A few minutes later found Adrien and Plagg both sitting on the couch and watching the news once more, with Camembert in front of the small kwami.

Stoneheart and the boy had moved away from the stadium and were making their way towards the Eiffel Tower. The police officers were no longer shooting at the stone supervillain due to the civilian in one of his hands and because they finally realized that brute force only made him bigger.

"So, let me get this straight: you can make me into a hero, I'm supposed to take that thing down" - Adrien pointed to the screen - "and I have a partner."

"Don't forget that you're a cat themed hero," Plagg added before shoving a slice of the stinky cheese into his mouth.

"And I'm a cat hero. Do you have any idea how crazy this sounds? Not to mention, how can I be a hero if I'm always stuck in here?"

"Well, you see, kid-"

"Adrien."

"Adrien, I can grant you the freedom that you want. All you have to do is become the hero of Paris, help your ladybug partner get the akumatized object and that's it. Oh, and you have this power called Cataclysm," Plagg explained.

"You can give me freedom?" Adrien asked, turning to Plagg with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Yup, all you got to say to activate the transformation is 'claws out' and 'claws in' to destransform."

With the ring now on his finger, Adrien gave it a contemplative look before saying the words, "Plagg, claws out!"

"Wait! I wasn't done!" Plagg grabbed desperately at the Camembert before ultimately dropping it and being sucked into the ring.

In a flash of green light, Adrien's clothes were replaced with a black, leather suit. A long belt was wrapped around his hips and dropped behind him, acting as a cat tail, and on top of his head were a pair of cat ears.

Raising one gloved hand to his face, Adrien saw that he now had claws. Hurrying over to a mirror, Adrien took in his new appearance. The changes to his eyes were what truly shocked him; the sclera of his eyes was now a green color and his pupils were now cat-like.

With an excited grin, Adrien turned away from the mirror and looked to one of the windows in his room.

* * *

 **Hey everyone! So I'm incredibly sorry for not posting anything for the past two weeks, but both me and my Beta-reader were just so busy with deadlines and other things. I hope this chapter satisfies you guys, and I'm really sorry about the long wait.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy and hopefully I'll get a chapter out by this Thursday if possible. If not, then next Thursday will be the next post - hopefully. ^_^lll**

 **Please comment! Comments always make me so happy and I'm always excited to hear your thoughts on the story. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi Everyone.**

 **I'm sorry to say that this is not a new chapter and that there won't be any new chapters for a while. Not only am I busy with life, but I'm also going to be rewriting the current chapters that are posted. Unfortunately I don't know how long it will take me to rewrite the chapters because I'm busy.**

 **Sorry if you guys were looking forward to a new chapter, but I promise I'm not abandoning the story. If you guys got any questions feel free to PM me.**


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